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Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver (1953-1956)

 Organization

Biography

The National Asthma Center (NAC) (1973-1978) had a series of names: the Denver Sheltering Home for Jewish Children (1907-1927), National Home for Jewish Children in Denver (1928-1952), Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver (JNHAC) (1953-1956), and the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital (CARIH) (1957-1972). NAC was an independent institution from 1907 until 1978, when it merged with National Jewish Hospital to form the National Jewish Hospital and Research Center/National Asthma Center. The NAC campus in west Denver at 19th and Julian Streets sold in 1981. During the last part of the nineteenth century, Denver, Colorado, became a haven for those suffering from tuberculosis, "the white plague." However, no formal medical treatment facilities existed until the opening of the National Jewish Hospital (NJH) in 1899. Five years later, the Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society (JCRS) began treating patients with advanced cases of tuberculosis. A Denver housewife, Fannie Lorber, became concerned about the plight of Jewish children left homeless by a parent's hospitalization or orphaned by a parent's death at NJH or JCRS. In 1907, she and her friends Bessie Willens and Sadie Francis organized other local East European immigrant women and founded the Denver Sheltering Home. For the next 51 years, Fannie Lorber presided over the volunteer board of the Home and was the driving force behind fundraising efforts. At first, funded entirely by the Denver Jewish Community, the Home's expansion eventually led to a system of fundraising Ladies' Auxiliaries throughout the United States. The Home initially sheltered only orphaned or neglected children of tuberculosis victims, but it soon expanded its mission to help combat delinquency among Denver's Jewish children. An arrangement was made with Judge Ben B. Lindsey to send first offenders to the Home rather than to a detention center. (Judge Lindsey created the Colorado Juvenile Court system.) The Home also began taking in orphaned and needy children from other cities, and by 1920, approximately 100 children were living on the expanded campus. The Home's founders aimed to provide a cultured, stimulating, and Jewish environment for the children that was as close to family life as possible, unlike most orphanages of the period. In 1939 the Home instituted the long-term residential treatment of children with intractable asthma. In the 1950s, medical, psychiatric, and research personnel were added to treat children with asthma and allergies. In 1951, Dr. Allan Hurst became the first full-time medical director, and Jack Gershtenson became the administrator, a position he held for nearly thirty years. The Home officially became a non-sectarian in 1953. Dr. Murray Pershkin, chief consultant to the home from 1940 until 1959, advocated '"parentectomy,"' the removal of the child from his or her home for up to two years. In 1957, the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital was created. At the time, it was the only research facility in the country dedicated to asthma and allergic diseases. In 1966, Drs. Kimishige and Taruko Ishizaka, a husband and wife research team at CARIH, discovered immunoglobin E, the physiological basis for asthma. In 1972, CARIH became the National Asthma Center. By the 1970s, National Jewish Hospital had gone from treating tuberculosis to treating a broader range of respiratory diseases, including asthma. It was decided in 1978 that a merger of the two institutions would be beneficial. Patients remained at the NAC campus until 1981, when it was closed. Fannie Lorber was president from 1907 to 1958, Arthur Lorber was president from 1958 to 1975, and Charles M. Schayer was president from 1975 to 1978.

Found in 270 Collections and/or Records:

Girls Playing a Game at the Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver, circa 1953

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0020.0025.00001
Abstract

A group of girls sit in a circle and toss a ball to one another, outside the Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver. The Home's history began in 1907 as a refuge for lower-income children whose parents were being treated for tuberculosis, or had passed away from tuberculosis. It has changed names several times, changing its focus to asthmatic children in 1953.

Dates: circa 1953

Greeting from Mrs. Lorber -- Los Angeles Auxiliary Dinner Dance -- March 11, 1956, 1956 March 11

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0003.00003
Abstract

Greeting from Fannie Lorber at the Los Angeles Auxiliary Dinner and Dance held on March 11, 1956. Lorber mentions the development of a research program.

Dates: 1956 March 11

Hobbies at the National Jewish Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver, 1947 February

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00083
Abstract

A group of unidentified boys using saws to cut wood for a hobby project. The boys were in the care of the National Jewish Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver, which later became part of the National Jewish Hospital.

Dates: 1947 February

Indiana Pacers with Children of the National Asthma Center, between 1970-1980

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0020.0009.00001
Abstract Three members of the Indiana Pacers basketball team stand with children from the National Asthma Center. The National Asthma Center's history began in 1907 as the Denver Sheltering Home for Jewish Children, which was a refuge for lower-income children whose parents were being treated for tuberculosis, or had passed away from tuberculosis. In 1928 the institution changed names to the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver. In 1953, the name changed to the Jewish National Home for...
Dates: between 1970-1980

Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver, between 1945-1960

 Item
Identifier: B063.04.0020.00006
Abstract

Several unidentified children and an unidentified woman sit or stand around a piano where another unidentified woman is playing.

Dates: between 1945-1960

Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver, between 1945-1960

 Item
Identifier: B063.04.0020.00007
Abstract

Two unidentified girls, patients at Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver, hold boxes and tickets at a JNHAC event.

Dates: between 1945-1960

Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver, between 1945-1960

 Item
Identifier: B063.04.0020.00008
Abstract

Six unidentified children stand at the end of a table on which five candles are positions in a row in the middle. An unidentified man stands beside the table holding a match book. Two of the children hold tickets and so this appears to be a festival at the Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver.

Dates: between 1945-1960

John Kirkland Throws Frisbees at a Benefit for the National Asthma Center, between 1973-1978

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0019.0016.00003
Abstract John Kirkland throws frisbees at a benefit for the National Asthma Center. The event was called the Great KIMN Funky Frisbee Fly-In and was held at Denver Public Schools Stadium, 1450 S. Franklin Street, Denver, Colorado. The National Asthma Center's history began in 1907, which was a refuge for lower-income children whose parents were being treated for tuberculosis, or had passed away from tuberculosis. In 1928 the institution changed names to the National Home for Jewish Children in...
Dates: between 1973-1978

July 31, 1955, Building Acceptance, Auxiliary Convention, 1955 July 31

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0003.00008
Abstract

Fannie Lorber's Building Acceptance Speech at the 48th Anniversary Auxiliary Convention of the Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver. the building was named in memory of her husband, Jacob N. Lorber.

Dates: 1955 July 31

July 31, 1955, Welcome Address, Auxiliary Convention, 1955 July 31

 Item
Identifier: B089.02.0005.0003.00007
Abstract

Fannie Lorber's welcome address speech for the 48th Anniversary Auxiliary Convention of the Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver.

Dates: 1955 July 31

Additional filters:

Type
Archival Object 268
Collection 2
 
Subject
Colorado 267
Denver (Colo.) 243
Asthmatics 233
Children 228
Group homes for children 220